Small Town Sindrome are an alternative/punk rock band from the US. Their most recent album, ‘It Only Gets Worse From Here’, was released a month or so ago (you can find our review of ithere). Just before its release, we had the chance to sit down with the band and have a quick chat about it, their last year and their plans for the future. Check it out from down below!
Obviously you put out a single from the upcoming album; it seems like it was pretty well received?
Yeah, so far! We’ve got a really good response. We’ve got the album coming out a week on Friday so we’re excited to see the response to the rest of it.
So how was the writing process for that? Over here we had lockdowns and stuff but has it been different over there?
Yeah. Like the studio we recorded in, the Bouncing Souls studio that they did most of their albums in, so you’ve just kinda gotta get around it. The masks and all that. But we survived!
Is there a specific theme or story to the album or is it more through individual tracks?
We kinda… honestly I have a tee-shirt and on the back it says ‘it only gets worse’, and one day Brian was like “I’m gonna write a song about that!” And then we thought it was a good idea for an album and we just kinda rolled with it.
How does the sound of the album compare to your previous work?
I guess people have to listen to it and make their own judgement, but I think for the most part it’s a lot more polished. For me I learned more chords on guitar so… We really wanted to go for more of a polished sort of sound so I think that’s what we did, I think we accomplished that. We spent a little bit more time on the songs, I guess.
That’s where Pete Steinkopf of the Bouncing Souls came in too. He was really pushing for a little bit better quality in everything we did and it really came out. We’re starting to see that too; people are commenting from our first album and saying that maybe we backed off the edginess a bit, not sure what that means but it’s a little bit more polished.
I think we came into it a lot more confident than the last one, too. Me personally, I felt I was a huge step further than I was with the first one. I was much more confident, and I think us as a whole group felt tighter and more confident together. It definitely made a difference, it made it feel more complete.
So, how would you describe your sound?
Controlled chaos.
That’s actually not too far from the truth!
I feel like we take a mix from a lot of our influences, you know, pop punk, classic punk, classic rock, even a little bit of the more alternative metal or heavier stuff. You get kind of a different feel from a lot of that so it’s kinda hard to say what we do sound like.
Just today I’ve had about a dozen radio stations hit me up for whatever and it’s funny because of the diversity of the radio stations. Jut based on that we could play more of a classic rock station or even a hardcore one. With every song on the album, each person can find something they like with it and it’s pretty cool!
Have you guys managed to gig and stuff recently?
Here in the US we had a nice little tour scheduled last summer that got washed out. That was kind of a bummer but we played some local places at least. This year was really kinda focused on the album, to get that done, so we’ve managed to play a show or two here each month and did a mini-tour in September but really the focus was on the album and getting it out there. Next year we really want to hit it hard as far as touring goes.
Have you got anything pencilled in already?
Yeah actually, the UK! The South mainly, probably a couple of mid-tier festivals and then pretty much book everything we can around that. Our plan is to go all over the UK. We’re really kinda waiting to see what this winter brings but are planning on a heavy schedule come the spring!
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Deified are a groove metal band from St Helens. Bringing infectious grooves and heavy vocals to the UK underground scene since 2013, we got to sit down with the band for a quick chat earlier this year, not long after their awesome Bloodstock set, to talk about that, their sound, and their plans for next year!
How was Bloodstock? How did it feel being on such a stage after so long of being locked inside, unable to do much?
Alistair – Bloodstock was amazing, it was a dream come true to play for so many people and get that coveted crowd shot every band hopes to get in their time. Jordan – The whole thing felt like a dream! To be back at a festival for the first time since lockdown felt amazing but to be playing it as well was something really special. It was definitely worth the wait! Jamie – Performing on such a prestigious stage, that’s played host to so many legends in the music industry, was completely mind melting. It was one of those pivotal moments where you’re just in awe of what’s happening. And seeing so many people, all celebrating the return of BOA together, standing in unison, will remain one of my most cherished memories.
For our readers who aren’t familiar with your music, how would you describe yourselves?
Alistair- I’d say Groove metal is the best description. Matt – Angry groove metal with a hint of thrash Jamie – We get compared to LOG at times, but I think we’re much more raw and energetic than that.
What is your favourite thing about the music business?
Alistair- it’s the people you meet being in the music business, we have countless friends we’ve met along the way that we simply wouldn’t have met if not for doing what we do. Jamie – Experiencing new places and making new friends/fans is a given. But I also love the amount of talent that’s out there and getting to play with these great bands really makes it all worthwhile.
Conversely, if you could change one thing about it, what would it be?
Alistair- For it not to cost so much money, not just for the bands and their gear, but for venues who host shows, we have seen so many great venues closing because they can’t afford to keep open. Jamie – I’m with the majority of people out there on this one – streaming platforms give people and bands a great platform for finding new talent. It’s just a shame they’re sucking the bands dry of their hard work.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
Matt – Code Orange because of their unique mix of sheer brutality and melodic ‘noise’ Alistair – Devin Townsend, I think mixing our groove with his huge atmospheric sound would be awesome. Jordan – I’m with Alistair! To collaborate with Devin would be something else! Jamie – Krysthla. Those guys have so much power it hits the spot every time. I think together we could do something utterly bonkers.
If you could have writtenone song from the past, what would it have been?
Matt – Imperium by Machine Head. I don’t think anyone could get bored of playing it! Alistair- bohemian rhapsody, just think of the royalties now. Jamie – ‘Straight Hate’ by Bloodsimple. That song straight up gets you feeling like you’re about to go super Saiyan.
Any plans for the future? An album? Live shows?
Alistair – we have 4 gigs left this year, Nottingham, Middlesbrough, Manchester and Wigan then organising shows to fill next year and get Anthrobscene out to the masses. Jamie – New single first, followed by the new album. We’re looking to work with some amazing people on this one and we can’t wait to get it in your ears!
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Krooked Tongue are a Bristol-based psychodellic/noise rock band. Having gotten out on tour a couple of months back and are gearing up for a massive EP launch in the new year, with a couple of singles already out. We got the chance to sit down with the band and chat about all of that and more. Check it out below!
So, congrats on the single! It seems to have been received pretty well?
Yeah yeah, we’ve had a lot of good coverage on it, it’s been really cool!
It’s obviously part of a full EP. What was the writing process for that, given that you couldn’t have been in the same room for some of it?
They’re songs we’ve been gigging for a while.
We’ve had ‘No Vacancy Hotel’ for as long as I can remember! The other three are kinda fairly new.
‘Vampyre’ and ‘Freaky Love’… I think it was some time towards the end of last year that it was written. But we’ve kinda held off for a while as we wanted to see where we were going with it, recording wise. Then we found Josh Gallop, who’s in an amazing band called Phoxjaw and he brought it to life really!
Is there any specific themes for the EP or any stories behind it or anything?
There’s not particularly an overarching theme for the whole EP.
Every song has a different story.
Sonically I think it flows and moves really well!
Would you say it’s much different from your previous work?
It’s different to the songs we’ve already recorded. We’ve sort of found our style a bit more with these ones, I think.
When we did them live they don’t sound as different as they do on the recordings. The way the set flows it doesn’t sound different. But I think the recording process has brought out different styles.
I feel like we sound a little bit heavier live than we do on the recordings, so I think that comes across!
So you guys have not long finished your tour with Mother Vulture, how did that go?
Yeah it was so good! Those lads are sound!
I assume it was some of your first gigs back, as well?
Yeah, we had one in July in Bristol but that was it until the tour. It’s been really really good to get back to doing it again.
Has it taken a bit to find your groove and be gig ready again?
I don’t know, we rehearse pretty regularly so we weren’t too rusty. I think when we first came back after the first lockdown we were like some dad covers band of ourselves, it was crap. But it’s like muscle memory so when you start playing the songs you’re like ‘oh yeah!’. By the first stop on the tour it was like nothing had changed.
Have you got a full headline tour scheduled for the EP?
Yeah, I suppose. I don’t think the EP will come out until the start of next year and that’s when we’re wanting to do headline shows again. Just hoping we can reschedule our tour that was cancelled because of COVID.
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Thrasherwolf are, if you couldn’t have guessed it, a thrash band from the UK. The band have been tearing through the underground scene the last couple of years and created a real buzz around themselves, with their debut album definitely helping! We managed to sit down with them just after Derby ALTFEST to talk about the gig, their music and their future!
Derby ALTFEST was a fantastic event and the crowd were absolutely mental, we had the absolute pleasure to open the event and even though we were the openers there was still a really decent crowd waiting for us. Even got the pleasure of going up on stage with Devestator and doing backing vocals with our Tri-fecta brother Liam from Hellfekted on Devestators cover of “Venom’s – Countess Bathory”! Such a brilliant festival and Liam Barlow our manager and head of Unearthed Music as well as Harry Warren from Beyond Your Design both did a bang up job making sure it all went ahead and all went off without a hitch, for that they both deserve a massive round of a applause. Its only going to get bigger and better next year so people would be fools to miss it!
What’s it been like getting back to gigging after so long being away fromit?
Its honestly been such a relief to get back gigging, shaking off the rust has been an arduous task and having a tour come up sooner than we could shake all the rust off was tough but ultimately one of the best things we have ever done. The Tri-fecta tour forced us to be good, forced us to pull out the big guns and really get tight! There was certainly no more rust after that tour let me tell you! Lockdown may have hurt gigging opportunities but what it really did was give bands the opportunity (whether they’d taken it or not) to work on their online social presence which has only helped us in the long run especially upon our gigging return knowing we had a strong a loyal fan base through our social media coming through into gigs and seeing them in person.
How would you describe your sound?
We’ve been told we sound like quite a few bands that strangely enough could or even could not be called influences, for instance there are times people tell us we sound like a British Kreator whilst the most recent one described us as a dead ringer for venom! Then at most London gigs, every time I’d be greeted with the “James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine’s illegitimate love child” thing which is more than flattering haha Overall I’d say our sound Is technically old school thrash with modern thrash cross over elements, we deal in all types of Thrash but doesn’t mean we wont be heading in a particular direction later on.
What was it like releasing an album over lockdown and not being able to tour it?
Strangely enough as a band just starting out releasing an album over lockdown was more of a blessing rather than hindrance as it gave us the time to be able to focus on the finer details such as building our online presence on our socials and the careful planning of the PR campaign we had set in place while working with “Imperative PR and MetalMoose/MetalCoffeePR” both of which were a big help in helping us really spread the word about the new album. Not being able to have an album release show or tour it did suck though.
Was the album written and recorded pre-lockdown?
The album itself was written in parts a number of years ago and recorded the year just before Covid hit, I tend to write a lot more than I really should, we currently have 40+ new song guides from which to pick our next few albums from… won’t stop me writing even more though! We were lucky to have everything pretty much ready before the world went to shit.
Are you working on new material yet or still just savouring finally playing the album?
Album 2 is already in the works to be recorded and TRUST ME its gonna be mad! Gonna take everything we are good at and everything people loved from the second album and just times that by a hundred!
If you could collaborate with one artist, who would it be?
We are already collaborating with the artists we love in Hellfekted and Blacklist, the other members of the Tri-fecta. Other than our Tri-fecta brothers the ultimate dream would be collabing or touring with Kreator. The Ultimate thrash gods!
If you could have written one song, what would it be?
If I could have picked a song I wish was written by us it would be Kreator’s ‘Enemy of God’, love that song to death…I definitely wouldn’t have written the son anywhere near as good though. Kreator are god tier!
Anything to plug? Website, socials, future gigs etc?
We’d love to give shout-outs to the legends that are our management Unearthed Music and the legend that is Liam Barlow as well as our Tri-fecta brothers, all the guys from Hellfketed and Blacklist and also give huge shout-outs to the other bands we have loved sharing the stage with: Devastator, Beyond Your Design, Enquire Within, Dethonator, Detoxen, Bangover, 1000 Scars and so many more. Thank you everyone we have ever worked with who have helped us on the way. Other than that we’d like to ask everyone reading to please like our Facebook and Insta pages and please follow us on Spotify and Bandcamp and help yourself to the tasty merch we have on there as well as keep up with the exciting new merch we have coming! Join our pack today and see you at Thrashchester!
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Fabrizio Grossi has been a part of the rock and blues music scene for well over two decades now, through his solo projects and bands like Starbreaker and Supersonic Blues Machine to even working with the likes of Steve Vai and Chad Smith, both playing and producing. Earlier this year he released the debut album for his latest solo venture, Soul Garage Experience. We managed to sit down and speak to him after this release about how the album went and his plans on touring with it! Give it a read or check out the video down at the bottom!
You put out the debut album of Soul Garage Experience in September; it seems to have gone down pretty well?
So far so good! We’re getting a lot of very good reviews and it seems to be working quite well on the radio so let’s see what happens! Just keeping my fingers crossed!
Did you write or record any of it during the lockdowns and COVID and all that kind of thing?
Well yeah, the whole thing started earlier, some of the songs are ones I’ve been collecting over the last 10, 12 years or so. I’ve collected enough material to do a couple of different records, that’s why it’s volume one! But some songs were started and really finished… because I always wanted to do a record like this but always ended up with an excuse to not do it, something else always came around. In addition there were a bunch of songs that I was preparing for the next Supersonic Blues Machine record that, after all the demos and the writing was done, I didn’t think it was appropriate for Blues Machine as it was starting to sound more like me and all my funk stuff more than Machine. Especially now with Kris Barras in it. So I decided to pull these tracks aside, which was a good thing as we were able to finish the Machine record and we’re now really happy with what we’ve got for that, it’s consistent.
So, I ended up with this bunch of songs and then in addition I ended up writing a couple of things during the pandemic. My idea was I already had a band that I was playing around town with a bunch of different friends, Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction) on drums and Alex on guitar as well as a couple of other cats. We always kind of ended up in the jam nights or doing private events or whatever and we’re having good fun! So my idea was to put all these things together and then either use Garrett Holbrook as the singer or some other friends to be the singer. Some of these last tracks that I wrote during COVID I did what I always do and lay down some vocals and a bunch of idea. I’ve never really seen myself as a singer, I never really pursue it, but more just to document the song. But then I end up playing it for friends and family, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and my wife both said “well, why don’t you sing?” And I’m saying “well, I put this thing down waiting for the real singers!” But everyone was saying that I delivered the message so what else did I want to do and so after listening under that new light from the Reverend I figured he might be right! So I ended up re-singing a couple of the tracks better and all of that and the feedback that I got was really good so it’s one less thing to worry about!
Everyone in the band is a singer though, so we all decided that in putting this thing together we wanted it almost like a variety show in that everyone is going to have their own time. Like Kiss or ELO or Fleetwood Mac, that kind of vibe where a lot of people sing. Everyone is going to have their own songs, which is just going to make it fun and we can always move things around!
We put out a single about nine/ten months ago to start seeing what the feedback was and the first feedback I got was really good. It was followed up by another single before I got wrapped up in another project, a short film tribute to a friend of mine who was one of the first COVID victims (find it here). Then I got back into it and we decided to release it now and hopefully we can get a few shows in this year and at the start of the next before all the madness with Supersonic kicks off again.
Is there lyrically a theme through the album or is it more on a song to song basis?
I wouldn’t exactly call it a concept in terms of like, The Wall. But there is a concept thread throughout all the songs. Sure, you might find the funny one or one that sounds happy, but if you listen to what the lyrics are and what they are talking about, I think they’re what connect all the songs.
For anyone who’s familiar with what I do with Supersonic, it’s very hippy, 70s; that kind of mentality with the lyrics. More Bob Marley, John Lennon type. Everyone in the band agrees with those messages and we have the same view about the world. But there are multiple people in the project and not everyone has the same thoughts on how they want to deliver that message, and you always have to be respectful of that. I cannot just start talking the way I want to talk if someone else doesn’t like to use my specific choice of words.
Here, it’s different. I don’t have to ask permission of anybody. I have a lot of friends and a bunch of people helping and singing and all of it, but they’ve decided to help me this time deliver my message the way I want to deliver it. So, I would say this is my unfiltered version of myself and it’s closer to early Little Stephens or Tom Morello or even Bob Marley or Peter Tosh. I don’t want to claim because of the guys I work with that I’m a blues man, I don’t have that background and cannot claim it, I was born in Millan and was raised the majority in Europe before coming to the US at a young age. I always loved funk and soul and reggae but eventually hard rock took over. But I would say what I bring is a combination of all of those styles. But yeah, it’s insane that after 50/60 years that these sorts of lyrics are still relevant!
I assume you produce your own albums too then? You don’t bring someone else in?
I guess that’s one of the perks of doing it for so long. It’s not that I do not like other producers or anything like that, but ever since I started playing back in Italy I always had a pile of records to show to the house engineer where we wanted to go, sound-wise. Those guys were probably great at doing what they were usually doing, that kind of Mediterranean pop sound, but when it came down to rock’n’roll, no fricking clue! So I had to start to get my hands dirty on it and had to learn a few things so I developed that passion for producing. I think I’m a good mixer and I like what I do with the productions of course, and I can definitely record several instruments. That helped me do what I needed to do and it became part of my package, it comes along with me. I can’t think of letting someone else change my song, I’m not that kind of songwriter, that I’m preparing stuff to give to other people. It just comes natural.
To be honest with you I wanted to do this record independently too, not with a record company. I had opportunities but I was tired, more because of COVID than necessarily the labels themselves, to take a number to fit someone else’s schedule. I had a good team around me so I decided to go out now instead of in a year, year and a half, because that’s what would have happened.
Are you planning a wider tour for the album, then?
We’ve been working behind the scenes on both projects; with Supersonic we’re up to rescheduling our tour for the fourth time in the last year and a half! And also I’m just trying to find a new pathway for Soul Garage. I don’t know how much we’ll be able to do this year because we’re almost at the end, but hopefully next year it gets really busy for both bands! Probably Soul Garage more in the early parts of the year and then Supersonic heading into the summer.
And there we have it, our interview with Fab! Make sure to check out both Soul Garage and Supersonic if you are in any way into rock or blues or funk music and keep an eye out for them touring, they will not be ones to miss!
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Neptune Rain began during the pandemic and found themselves taking an unusual approach to the music scene. Starting on social media to build a following, they have found themselves only recently able to go out and gig and meet fans in real life. With an extended edition of their EP Chaos and Light available soon, we sat down with the band to get an insight to their journey.
So first of all, you guys have only been gigging in the past month or so? Before that, you were live streaming throughout lockdown?
No – the last week or 10 days!
We kind of formed just before Covid kicked off and we were just trying to do anything and everything we could to build an audience and just keep going really as a band. But for a lot of that time we had an incomplete line up. We had a mate filling in on drums. Our line up has only really been complete in the last 5 weeks.
Did you have gigs arranged before lockdown?
We didn’t have anything booked before Covid. We recorded our two singles which were a lifesaver because it meant we had music to release whilst the world was shut. It’s just been a really really weird time.
Do you think it has helped at all? You’ve managed to jump straight into a more home-based set up whereas a lot of other bands have really struggled to get into the groove of ‘we can’t gig anymore what do we do?’ Do you think it helped you guys, as lockdown started, to gain momentum that way?
I think if Covid didn’t kick off, we wouldn’t have done anywhere near as much stuff on social media. I think it kind of gave us the opportunity to engage with a lot of people who probably didn’t have a lot else on at the time because everything had stopped which was nice although it was a horrible situation to be in for everyone. I just think we wouldn’t have done as much. Having the ability to record and make videos ourselves was really useful. If we didn’t have that skill set we would have been a bit stuck. I think the three singles we’ve released this year, well the two we’ve released and the one coming out soon, we recorded individually from our own homes.
I’d say, just to kind of add onto that, I think it really helped the social media thing because when you start a band you just go all in and you have to learn how everything works really quickly – live side and online side. I think the fact that there was an entire segment that we couldn’t do allowed us to focus on getting the online presence. We could spend more time on figuring out what worked and not having to think ‘oh we can’t do that because we need to be recording, we need to be gigging, we need to be doing this.’ We could actually focus more energy on that and now gigs have come back, it means we can sort of keep the formula that’s been tweaked and worked on for the last year or so and just keep adding to it.
One of the things you can’t wait to do is just meet a lot of the people on social media who have been supporting us. The first gig we had in Leicester, about 10 days ago, there was a guy there that we didn’t know and he said ‘oh, I’ve been following you guys on social media. You’re awesome!’ They came to see us which was amazing.
You guys had a couple of singles released recently too, were they written during lockdown or?
‘We Breathe The Same’ was written just before COVID kicked off and was kinda unlucky not to make the initial four-track EP but we thought it would be a good one to have in the back. But ‘Bitter Pill’ which we released back in July and ‘Rise’ which is coming out next month (at the time of interview) were both lockdown songs.
I assume it was quitea different writing experience then, not being able to meet up? Did you do more video stuff like this?
I’d say it’s frustrating. Quite often I’ll spit out an idea and it’ll be anywhere from sort of 50-90% done. But trying to do that remaining percentage from a distance was so difficult! Trying to drop ideas into WhatsApp groups and collate feedback and try to gauge things… yeah, it was really, really difficult.
You have to go back and forth and it’s literally a case of a conversation that takes five minutes in the same room can take five days while you wait for people to reply to messages and stuff. It just extends the process when it’s done by message or email.
You wanna be really considerate everyone’s ideas and feelings too but trying to do that remotely was really kinda frustrating. In a room you can just wiggle a few things around on Logic and sorted!
We have had a couple of writing sessions since the world has opened up again and it’s been really nice! I’m definitely looking forward to many more of those!
I can’t wait to see what’s next. Some of the tracks that we’re working on at the moment I’m really excited for.
So are all three of these new tracks making it onto the re-release, then?
So essentially the extended re-release of the EP is the initial four tracks alongside ‘We Breathe The Same’ which came out earlier this year alongside ‘Bitter Pill’ and then the online version is rounded off by ‘Rise’ which hasn’t been released yet and kinda signs off the Chaos and Light era. The physical copies have a few demo tracks and stuff on them too.
The extended edition is kind of a… I don’t want to say swan song, but this is it, here in its final format, this is the message we intended to put across, and I think it does a good job at doing that, personally.
Does the EP have an overarching message then? Or is it more individual to the song?
I think most of the songs are about difficulties, whether that’s relationship difficulties or mental health or something. There are a few that are quite dark tracks that come from a place of living with depression. But ‘Rise’ is a lot more hopeful. There has always been sprinklings of hope throughout but I think the Chaos and Light kinda represents that internal darkness and the light and the hope. It was a hopeful ending to it and it only felt right to release it as one body of work because we never had that chance to tour or gig at the time. It was a chance to go ‘here’s a bunch of songs written either just before or during COVID’ when there was a bunch of chaos, but a little bit of light and hope in there. We think it’s a nice way to finish it, and it shows a nice journey.
So there are both CDs and cassettes and because the cassettes aren’t balanced on the second side there is a track of Olly just being Olly!
Yep, me talking absolute rubbish for about three minutes!
I don’t think I’ve told anyone this but I didn’t script any of it! I just stood in my room, in front of my microphone, pressed record, and just talked. There was no structure to what I was going to say. There’s a little thing at the end too, a little surprise which I’m not going to talk about so if you wanna hear it, you’re going to have to get one!
That’s like three minutes of chaos right there!
Yes! I am the chaos in Chaos & Light!
And how would you describe your sound, for anyone who is unfamiliar with your work?
Big drums and guitars and synths, sung and rapped vocals, big choruses.
Just big and catchy, I think. I think that’s what we aim for really, getting something that’ll stick in your head but kind of appeals to people who like the alternative side of things but if people like the poppier side of things they won’t get too scared of it! We’re all about having some catchy parts and really nice choruses but there’s the fun element of each of the songs too!
And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed reading our interview as much as I enjoyed doing it! If you are interested in the album they mention, read our review of it here!
Hollowstar have been around the UK underground rock scene for a few years now, establishing themselves as one of the leading lights of NWOCR. They stormed Rockin’ The Bowl Festival last month and we managed to get a quick interview with them before their set, which you can check out below!
It’s exciting. We’ve done a few gigs since lockdown but to get back to the normal festival scene is great. We love doing festivals so… yeah, exited is the word!
I’m hoping it stays dry! At the moment it’s nice, slightly grey… but no it’s a good lineup, the Massive Wagons guys are good fun too and obviously Collateral are on stage at the moment so it’s good to see all the friends again! We’ve spent years and years building this scene up together and for two years we haven’t seen anybody. And that’s not just the bands but the fans as well, it’s just nice to be back out here and joining in again.
Have you played with some of the other bands on the lineup before, then?
Most of them! We run in the same circuit all the time. Collateral we’ve probably seen more than any other band since Covid, we seem to be doing all the same post-Covid stuff. And to be honest the guitarist, Stephen, of Massive Wagons was one of my drinking buddies through lockdown through Zoom, so we’ve had a good year and a half sat in our lounges getting drunk together,
Yeah so we’ve done the Scottish leg of it and then we’ve had a week off, an then we’re back out again on Tuesday, at Cambridge Junction. And then back in Sheffield again on Wednesday actually! All over the gaff.
I think a yo-yo player booked it!
So you released your debut album in 2019, how was that?
It was good! More of a relief for us. We’ve been working on doing our own stuff for a number of years and we’ve always said to each other we wanted to release an album that we wanted to listen to and it’s been an absolute bonus to get the people behind us. People enjoy it as much as we do! I couldn’t say that these days I play it as much as I did but… it was great to get it out there. A hard bit of labour and a lot of blood, sweat and tears… maybe not so much blood but… it was nice to finally release it and now we’re excited for the new music we’re working on so…
Have you got a new album coming out then?
We’re writing at the moment. We’re about halfway through the writing process so getting the ideas together. We tend to write a bunch of songs, then we’ll sit down for a couple of evenings, have a couple of beers and go through and pick the ones that we like. Get a bit of a listening party together. Then start really strengthening up what’s going on the album, what can maybe be worked on a bit stronger, so it’s still early days, but we well into the journey of it, shall we say.
When you released your album in 2019, did you have any tour plans having to be postponed for the following year?
In 2019 we did manage to do the tour. And on top of that we lucky enough so when we’d done our headline tour we had some things booked in towards the end and we were lucky enough to jump on the Skid Row tour, so we took our album to Europe and the rest of the UK, pretty much filled the city’s that we didn’t do on our headline tour so it worked out perfectly.
Come 2020 when we were really ramping things up, everything shut down, so it was horrible to see the scene get flipped upside-down, but it has also allowed us the time to start working on things in different ways, so chucking ideas around and sending each other their ideas and bouncing back so…
We’ve had to work in a bit of a different way as obviously we couldn’t get together and write songs and practice so Phil would record in his bedroom and ping it over to me and then I’d record mine and send it back to him. It’s all done digitally and it’s been a bit of a learning curve for us but yeah, it’s been interesting!
Are there any bands that you draw inspiration from?
Loads. We all listen such a broad range. If you’d have been listening to what we were listening to on the way here you’d get a mix of screamo metal to Hall & Oats so you’ve got a bit of everything in there. Phil’s always been very guitarist driven so that’s where his inspiration comes from and Dan’s the same I imagine. I mean I can’t speak for these guys but mine was always the frontman so Danny Bowes of Thunder, it’s rock’n’roll with a smile on its face, so when I jump on stage I like to make… it’s a party. Whether you’re that side or on stage it’s a big party… and I get to join in! Jack, yourself?
Well I mean the classic drummers I why I learnt the drums, your John Bonham’s, your Keith Moon’s back in the day. More modern things like Halestorm, big fan of Arjay Hale, John Fred Young of Black Stone Cherry, massive massive fan of those.
The biggest change with Covid is that Carl is in the circle. Before Covid we had us guys and Tom. Covid has left Tom taking his life in a different direction so the biggest change is that Carl’s now come in and taken over the guitar mantel side of things, which has allowed us to put a new spin on the new songs for the second album.
What would you say you’ve brought to the table?
Good looks! I don’t know. I’m quite a versatile guitarist, I used to play a lot of indie stuff so going into the rock stuff… I watched these guys for seven years so when I got a phone call and got asked to join it was actually quite an honour really because I used to watch them every week so I knew these guys were real good. So yeah, it was really nice to be asked and hopefully I can bring something to the table, we’ll see on album two!
The good thing is it’s nice to see. I mean Tom was a great guitarist but in terms of performance he had a very static persona about him so he was head down and grunt and go for it. Carl is a lot more like Phil is which is I turn round and they’re bouncing around behind me like wild animals, so it brings a new energy and a new angle to the songs to what we had before I think.
So, what’s next for the band?
Well, obviously we’ve got the Mason Hill tour so another two or three weeks of that. Then, heads down, get cracking on with this new album. And then we’ve got a couple more festivals this year: Winter Storm, Gravity Fest, Cornwall Rocks. So yeah, we get this year out of the way, as such, and then it’s literally heads down, let’s focus on the new album and get a PR plan in place and get the right team behind us and launch it as we should.
Check out the band live whenever you can, as their set at the festival was awesome, and their studio work is awesome too!
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Bootyard Bandits are a British comedy country rock band. After the release of their debut album ‘Songs for the Saddle Sore’ earlier this year the band managed to play a few shows, including Rockin’ The Bowl festival last month! We were there and managed to head along, catching them for a quick interview which you can check out below!
Good fun! Everyone’s a little bit tired, but we got there. Lots of happy people I though!
Crowd was really responsive. Yeah, it was great.
We played it with a different band the first year as well, and this one was way better. Just way better attended and just better, just… more!
After covid and everything, people want to come out more, people want to be at the shows.
Absolutely.
Yeah, people are saying that, like, knocking around, some people have said its their first show back after covid, and they’re just glad to get out.
Is it your first show back?
No.
Third, I think, isn’t it?
We’ve got a couple more left this year.
Are you on tour at the moment then?
No, just weekend warrior stuff. Come for one show, then go home, and then do it again the next weekend. It’s a little bit hard work, but yeah. Its good fun.
Is this the first you’ve played?
Yeah, it’s the first time as Bootyard Bandits. Yeah, we played with a different band… I can’t remember when it was now.
Everything plus two years now, isn’t it? What with the apocalypse.
So you released an album this year, is that right?
We did.
Did you record it during covid?
No, we actually recorded it over about three years ago. We were gonna release it just before the whole covid thing happened, but we thought we had better put it back. Then we though, nah we’ll do it anyway. And then we though, no, we’d better not. We did that about five times, and then we eventually just bit the bullet and just did it anyway. And to be honest, it wasn’t probably the best time actually. If we had waited about two more months, Covid would have fucked off a bit more. But, never mind, its out. Its called Songs For The Saddle Sore by the way. Buy it, it’s very good.
So, have you had a lot of good reception for it then? Is it going well?
Absolutely! Well, we sold out of them today, so that’s a good sign I think.
We didn’t actually, there was more.
Well, alright then, there we go. We just didn’t tell our merch guy. “We sold out! No, there’s loads more”.
But no, great reception so far, and some good online press. Yeah, its always well received.
A lot of people sing alone, so they know your stuff.
I was surprised. There were so many t-shirts. And cowboy hats, which we like to see.
Even though there’s other bands that wear cowboy hats here. But, I’m pretty sure they’re all for us!
Yeah, all for you.
Definitely.
They told me themselves.
Everybody came up and told you personally. I expect nothing less!
Its lovely to see kids at the front, on the railings, jumping up and down signing the words.
We had a dude come up and say ‘this was my sons first gig.’ I said “I promise it gets better!”
That’s quite cool man, I mean some little kids first gig. First memories.
Now he’s shouting abusive lyrics at the boy.
They don’t know what it means, its fine.
Good.
We’ll fuck your mum. Put him in a dress and we’ll fuck your son.
Those at the front like, Yeah!
“This is amazing! I wanna do that when I grow up dad!”
Its always the dads that come with the kids, the mums are always at home like, “why are you letting him listen to that?”
That’s a very sexist thing to say Joe.
It’s true!
Cancelled!
Do you find you get a lot of controversy around your lyrics?
No, not at all.
We’re waiting for it, I’m sure it’ll come eventually. But…
I kind of want it to be honest. Yeah, cus any publicity is good publicity isn’t it.
Well…
Obviously, well, yeah…its it, yeah it is.
Obviously, its all a big fucking joke isn’t it.
Yeah, we try and emphasize the fact that it is a joke. If you don’t get it, then..
They’re songs about boobies and drinking.
Basically, yeah.
Who doesn’t like boobs and drinking?
Losers!
Exactly, well there we go.
If you could collab with anyone, who would it be? There’s a lot of great bands on tonight, but you know, think big. Who would you want?
I’m gonna say something really obscure, but I need to think about it.
That’s deep man!
The Eagles?
But they’re all dead though ain’t they?
Can they be dead or alive?
Nah, we couldn’t collab with someone that talented. Cus it would really show us to be really fucking, outrageously untalented. We should collaborate with someone quite bad and then it would make us look good.
We need to be rather careful who we name here…
God, that’s a really hard question!
Well, you’ve set it up now, whoever we say now we’re going to intrinsically gonna be saying they’re bad!
Well, we’ll skip that bit, but the good bands you want to play with, who are they?
I think playing with Steel Panther would be good fun.
That would be a good fit that would! That would be the tour we’d pitch for if we could pitch for anything. We went out with Alestorm and obviously that was a good fit. They’re just a big silly bunch of chaps as well!
Their fans are very open to the sort of humour too so we slot in quite well.
So, what’s next for the band?
Well, get these festivals that we’ve got left this year done, and then… I mean we’ve already got another two albums worth of material written, ready and waiting. It just needs some tidying around the edges but we’ll go and crack on with album number two! More silly cowboy bollocks!
I have to say I love the stage getup! The clothes, the cactus, everything!
That’s the next thing I think, we’re going to do more of that. More cowboy shit.
We love the production!
Yeah, as many props as we can get.
As much rubbish off Amazon as we can buy!
It just gets to the point where you need a separate band just for stage production basically and we don’t… we’re not that cool yet.
We want pyro like Massive Wagons are gonna do!
Haven’t you gotta hire a guy if you want pyro?
No! The laws on pyro are fucking ridiculously slack.
Really? I thought they were super tight for some reason.
Who does the band draw inspiration from? Or are you fuck that, you’re yourselfs?
Well to be honest, when I put this thing together I was thinking ‘cowboy Steel Panther’, and we’ve been described as like a ‘if Steel Panther and Black Stone Cherry had an illegitimate love child, we’d be the result’, and I think that’s pretty accurate.
We’ll get in the van and listen to country albums and stuff like that won’t we?
Yeah, and then you’ll put on some hardcore or something!
Yeah, a bit of everything really.
We’ve all come from like hard rock and heavy metal bands, this is what we do, so we’re kinda influenced by the stuff we’ve done before, that’s how we know what to do.
We just crowbar some country stuff into what we know, a bit of bad jokes, violin, fiddle, whatever you want to make it sound tenuously country!
Are you all in your own separate project then?
All sorts of things, yeah!
This is the most important thing at the moment but…
Absolutely! We, me and Two Puds were in Aaron Buchancan and the Cult Classics together. As was Big Mac. That’s how we know Big Mac actually! We met Joey on an Alestorm tour because he was just along for the ride.
I’ve known the singer since we were teenagers and we went to music college together so everybody’s known and played with each other and done little bits.
A bit incestuous really isn’t it, the whole thing?
It’s very incestuous, yes.
I was in Grim Reaper with CJ and then Two Puds was in Grim Reaper as well… there’s fuckin’ loads of bands! We’ve all been around the block a bit in the olden days.
This is our last chance though! I’m giving up after this! If this goes tits up I’m off!
Straight back to a desk job!
So what’s the next gig you’ve got as Bootyard Bandits?
Southern uprising a week on Saturday. It’s in Derby!
Got no idea where it actually is but it’s somewhere around there!
it’s like a biker thing.
You don’t know, do you?
They’re definitely… it’s bikers that put it on… but I don’t know if it’s like a… we played Rock’n’Blues which is a very kinda biker thing. And it’s a bunch of the guys from there so I think it’s (whispering) one of those bike gangs! You know the sort, you know the type!
No, they’ve been great actually. We’ve sort of been adopted into their world and it’s been cool. They’ve given us shows and…
Yeah, one of our best pals was actually randomly in a biker bar in the middle of nowhere in Norway one time and he was like “They’re playing Bootyard Bandits on the jukebox! They fucking love it over here!
Play in Norway then!
Oh, it’s too cold!
We’ve played once in Norway…
No, we did Oslo, Stavanger… did we play Stavanger?
Trondheim was on it as well!
There was like four Norwegian shows, I’m sure!
It was so cold it all just sort of melded into one ginormous freezing experience.
Pretty much!
What do you like and dislike about the music industry at the moment?
How long have you got?!
I’ll tell you what I don’t like, that it ‘isn’t like it used to be back in the good old days’. back when you could just play gigs and get somewhere and now it’s all tinterweb based and social media and we’re not very good at that so…
We’re musicians, we’re not fucking social media experts here and I feel like you need to put all of those hats on now. You have to be a graphic designer and you have to be able to produce your own stuff and do all these things… before you could just go ‘Oh, I play drums innit, I’m quite good at drums so someone come and deal with this!’.
So having to do more work, I guess that is what we don’t like about it!
I think the dynamic shift between the bands and record label… strap in boys, strap in… I think that has flipped. At what point it flipped I don’t know, but I think record labels now expect you, the band, to essentially be the employee, whereas I don’t think it used to be like that. I think at some point it was the label was working for you, the band, and now it feels like the other way around. You’ve got to pander a lot to the label, you’ve got to pander to 360 deals.
Shit got deep dinnit? We’re supposed to be a comedy band!
Well, I’ve gotta keep the level up there!
I think labels trying to change your image has always been a thing, but there has been too much of a shift now where ‘the label needs this so c’mon guys we’ve gotta do it’ and it’s like, they wanted you!
And there you have it folks! Keep track of the band via their socials linked throughout the article and I would definitely try and get down to one of their shows ASAP, they are fantastic live and great fun!
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Candlebox returned to the studio back in 2019 to record their latest album, Wolves, and after a years delay it finally hit shelves last month! We managed to sit down with Kev, the frontman, and talk about the album, their current tour and also how he thinks the music industry is coping right now. Check it out in video or written form below!
How did the writing of the new album go?
How did the writing of the new album go? Swimmingly. We started working on it in sound checks in 2018. We do that a lot, it’s a good way for us to test out ideas and ways that we think songs would work in a live setting. And, its nice also you know, you’ve got the ambiance of the room, and the sound of…we’re very, we’re arena rock kind of music. So, you can listen to it in an atmosphere like that. It gives us an idea of how the songs gonna work. We do also sit down in the bus and write stuff, but yeah, but really sound check, so we get done the majority of writing in sound check, an then when it came time last…2019, last summer 2019 to really dig in an get the record ready. Everybody had sent stuff into a drop box file, we listened to everything and decided what would be the twelve songs that we would focus on in pre-production. So, that’s really how it happened. Everybody was super gung-ho. I mean we were excited about the ideas, some of them were partial, some of them were finished and, pre-production is kinda where we ironed everything out. So, it happened rather quickly, we don’t, Candle Box isn’t the type of band that will beat our head up over a part. If its not working, we’ll just move away from it. Songs are you know, Keith Richards said it a million times, songs are floating everywhere and if you allow yourself to grab them, you know, you’re better off no paying attention to that, then you’re going to miss it. An so that’s kinda why we don’t beat ourselves up about over it. And we release records that have no real, you know, we don’t really stay in our lane either. That’s kinda why this record sounds like it’s driving down the wrong side of the freeway on some songs, and maybe in the fast lane, the slow lane, in the carpool lane. The bus lane, the bike lane. We use a bit of everything.
So, obviously you kind of started getting it into the studios in 2019. Did the pandemic affect it at all?
No, we’d finished the record, you know, prior to everything getting shut down. So we were very lucky. The only thing it effected was the release of the record.
It just kind of got pushed back a bit then?
Yeah, I mean a whole year. It was supposed to come out August 2020. And well it just came out September 2021. So, I mean the nice thing about being able to sit on a record that long is, you know, you get to listen to it, you get to pick it apart and if we wanted to go in and change something, we could have. I mean it wasn’t like it was a difficult process, but I think everybody loved the record. We were all happy. And, the label were stoked, management were stoked. So, you know, it seems to be doing well. People are loving it too, so, maybe we did the right thing.
I’m definitely enjoying it, yeah!
Thank you!
In terms of lyrically, is there a story behind it? Or does anything spring out to you while you were writing it at all?
Well its really, its entitled Wolves for, like I’ve said in several interviews, I think that as a society we’ve become these injured, lone wolves that just feel totally dissociative, and you know, disrespected. And, everybody feels like they are being slighted in some strange way. You know, my concept of wolves is, they’re an incredibly beautiful species. Yes, they are dangerous but, when they work together, with the benefit of the pack, there’s really nothing quite like it. The Alfa male doesn’t leave the pack. He follow the pack to make sure the pack’s okay. You know, everyone in that pack looks out for one another to make sure that one another’s taken care of. And, as a society I think we used to be that way. Certainly after 9/11 here in the United States, you know twenty years ago. We all were greatly effected by that tragedy. And whether you believe it was the government or not – I certainly don’t – but you know, we have those people over here that do. Ninety five percent of the population was there for one another. I would love to see us get back to that, and I would love to see that worldwide. I don’t know, all this bullshit that goes along with religious, and you know, organised religion is the fucking worst thing in the world! It’s just a constant driving force between wars and all that bullshit. I’m just kind of over it, you know. Lyrically, to get back to your question, long story short. Its really dealing with who are we, what have we become, who am I and what have I become. What is my relationship with my family like? What’s my relationship with my wife like? And that’s really what the record deals with, kind of my immediate surroundings. And lyrically I spent three months, four months actually writing the lyrics for this record. Working in the melodies to make sure that it all sat well on the record.
You’ve already kind of touched on it being kind of, you don’t restrain yourselves to one kind of sound. But, would you say it’s different sonically to your previous works as a whole?
Oh, absolutely! I mean, absolutely sonically different inspirations, influences all over the place. So, I mean we, I think this is the first time on a record where we’ve been really free to use our inspirations and influences the way want. We, I think disappearing, we reached for it a little bit. But, we still blocked ourselves on some songs, we didn’t end up putting on the record. We didn’t do that this time. We just kind of allowed ourselves that freedom to write that song, whether is sounds like Motorhead, or whatever. Its kind of what we chose to do.
So, I know over here over the last year or so, we’ve been in and out of lockdown, with barely any gigs. Did you guys manage to gig much? Obviously, I know you guys are on tour now, but before that did you get out at all?
No, we started touring in 2020. We had dates in February. Cus, we knew the record was coming out in August, so we were supposed to pick up in April and continue on. When that got shut down, we didn’t do anything. I didn’t play my first show until June, May of 2021. I did an acoustic show for a friend, at his charity in Oklahoma. That was the first time I’d played a show since February 2020.
Oh wow! I imagine its pretty good to finally get back out there then, get all together on stage again?
Oh, its amazing! I mean its weird. Certainly people aren’t, you can tell the audience isn’t able to relax either. You know as well as I do, the reason we o to concerts is because we wanna get lost in that music. We don’t wanna be thinking about anything but that music, and that’s just not what the case right now. You can tell there are certain people that aren’t thinking about any of it. But, I’d say that the majority of our audience’s we’re playing to, in the back of their mind are concerned about covid. Whether they’re gonna get the Delta variant, or something like that. So, its strange in that sense, but we’re still enjoying ourselves. We’re still playing shows and having fun, and I think the crowd is enjoying it. It’s just not the way it was. And I don’t know how long its gonna be until we get back to that. The freedom of just being there.
That was kinda what I was thinking with the next question. How do you think the music industry is? What state do you think it is in? What position do you think it is in? Do you think it is ever going to recover? I’ve spoken to a few people who are saying it might never get back to the way it was.
I don’t think it will. I mean no certainly in the next two years. I mean, its upside down right now, some of the biggest bands in the United States can’t sell tickets right now. Which is weird. Its just, well the Foo Fighters are probably the only major rock band right now that are selling out every single show. Everybody else, Violent Femmes, Dropkick Murphys, Blues Travellers, you know these kinds of bands that are kind of in the same realm as we are. We’re all doing three quarters capacity venues, we’re doing three quarters even though they’re saying they’ve sold out. Its three quarters of the tickets. So I don’t know how its going to recover, other than just waiting out this depressive financial state. I mean, its gonna be years before its in the black again. Honestly, its tough. Its real tough!
It is a shame! So, you’re touring the US at the minute. I know its obviously quite hard to plan out at the minute, but is there plans for a more international tour? Or are you just waiting it out a bit?
No, fingers crossed we’re working on some stuff in Europe and Australia, New Zealand for 2022 and 2023. Fingers crossed that works out. I mean its really again until these restrictions get lifted on travelling. Or being in certain countries, you know, I mean we’re all vaccinated and we have our vaccine passports and shit. But, that just doesn’t seem like its working. So, we have to kinda wait it out and see what governments are doing. I mean, the health minister in Australia, I think the guy has been a bit crazy, certainly the Australian’s are losing their minds over it. But, I did an interview in New Zealand the other day, and they’re under lockdown again. You know man, its really up in the air. It really is, unfortunately.
I know we’ve had a few gigs over here kind of cancelled and paused, stuff like that because people are just not able to travel. To finish on a slightly lighter note, if there was one band or artist that you could collaborate with, whether it be a song or a full album. Does anyone immediately spring to mind?
Oh, I’d love to work with Nothing But Thieves. I love them. Really love that band, I love their new record, I’m forgetting his name. I don’t know why cus I love him! An English cat, with tattoos on his face, real soulful voice, something man. Shit. Its ridiculous, I listen to him every fuckin day!
Rag’n’bone man?
Yes! Rag’n’bone man. I love him. I just think he’s got some cool fuckin records going right now. Love his voice, And of course, I mean, I’d love to do something with Adele, I’d love to o something with Johnny Moore. I’m a big fan of English music man. I, the Manchester movement was a huge influence on me, a huge inspiration for me. When I was in, its funny. I think we played Manchester, went to the Stone Roses bar. You know this place? Its so fuckin cool man! I went there, we had two nights off. We played the one night and I went there after our show, and I stayed there until four in the morning. Just dancing and listening to music. And I went back the next night, because I was just like, I didn’t here one fuckin rap song, I didn’t hear any stupid pop shit, it was nothing but English rock n roll. I was like, this is the greatest fuckin bar in the world! And I love that about England. I love that your country does that! It like you support your fuckin arts. We don’t do that here. You have bars that play rap music, but its shit, you know. The venue sucks, and the people suck, the music’s not the best rap song, its some like, all the shit we know. No body digs deep or anything here. And I just thought the DJ at that club was so fuckin amazing. Every song I knew, and there were some where I was like, man, that was a fuckin deep cut. And I love that shit! I’d like to collaborate with those guys!
That’d be cool, I’d definitely love to hear that!
And there we have it! Did you enjoy our review? Keep up to date on all of them and more on our YouTube channel here.
British rock songwriter Jack J Huchinson has been killing it in the UK music scene the last few years, releasing albums to critical and commercial acclaim and touring pretty extensively. He is on tour at the minute (we cannot wait to be at the Birmingham date!) to make up for lost time from last year. He was invited along to Rockin’ The Bowl last month as he is playing next years instalment of the festival so we managed to speak to him about his tour, his upcoming album and his future plans!
First of all, I’ve heard that you’ve got an upcoming tour. Tell me about that.
Yeah, so we’re doing a big UK tour, kicking off in October and going straight through to November. We’re doing seventeen dates all across the country. We’ve got London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle, yeah, we’re going all over the place.
So it’s gonna be good! And a lot of the dates were kind of postponed from last year, obviously because of Covid. So we’ve chucked them all in with new dates. So, it’s a bit of a longer run than we were planning. So, fingers crossed it’ll go ahead, and it’ll be a kickass run of shows.
Are you playing with anyone? Is anyone supporting you?
Yeah, so we’ve got a main support on the show, which is a band call Firekind who are also on my PR guy Wes’ roster. They’re doing maybe two thirds of the dates, then we have a few other acts coming onboard. There’s a lady called Loz Campbell who’s coming out on a couple of shows. Verity White’s doing a show as well, so yeah some really great bands that’ll hopefully add to the whole evening being pretty badass. Looking forward to it!
If you had to describe your sound to a newbie, who would you say you sound like, or you draw inspiration from?
I suppose what I do is kind of hard rock based. It’s got its roots in classic rock: Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, all that kind of stuff. But I suppose the new stuff that’s gonna be on my forthcoming album is a little bit heavier, there’s more of a Black Sabbath sort of vibe to it. But not trying to recreate stuff that was done in 1973, we’re trying to turn in into something, you know, contemporary. I think its important, there’s no point trying to copy the other acts. So yeah, lots of different artists, and there’s a few kind of… I’m a big John Carpenter fan so, there’s a sort of horror movie, soundtrack vibe to some of the tracks as well.
I like that, that’s different!
Is there any other inspiration you would say, as a musician, outside of the Black Sabbath, Led Zep and AC/DC that you’ve already described?
I guess what I’ve tried to do with the new record is write as I’ve always done, which is from life experience, and lyrics and song writing have always been at the route of what I’ve done. I’m a big Neil Young fan, I’ve always been into that kind of song writer aspects. More so than I guess trying to show off on guitar. It’s always been about trying to write good songs. And so, you know, obviously events of the last eighteen months have impacted the lyrics of the album, but you know, no body wants to just write a fucking album about Covid. There’s gonna be a gazillion albums like that. So yeah, I’ve just written about my own personal feelings and response to things. That’s the biggest impact on this song writing process, more so than listening to Sabbath and going, this needs to sound like a Tony Iommi riff. It’s gotta be personal, have my own inner emotions in it as well.
Has the writing process been a bit different?
Yeah, I suppose the way that we’ve done it this record, the bulk of it I’ve written myself. But, similarly, I’ve co-written a couple of tracks with my band, which I’ve never done before. Usually, cus I’m a bit of a dick in terms of song writing. I like to be in control. But, we wrote some stuff remotely in lockdown last year, sending each other files via dropbox and that kind of thing. Which I’ve never done that before. And it came out pretty well. My bass player, Lazarus (Michaelides) he’s really into Gojira and really heavy stuff. His influence was like, three minute instrumentals in the middle of songs.
Do you think you clashed a bit then?
I clash with everybody all the time anyway, so there’s no difference there. Yeah, I am a bit like, not every song needs to sound like Trivium you know, there’s a little bit of a clash there. I always go back to probably when I was a kid, my parents listened to the Beatles and Stones most. So, everything’s routed in a three-minute pop song. So, I try and reign it in a little bit.
So, no three-minute instrumentals in the middle of your track then?
Yeah. Fuck that!
Where are the rest of the guys then today?
Well, I’m just here hanging out this weekend. So, we’re playing this festival Rockin The Bowl next year. And they’ve invited me down just to kind of hang out. Which has been a lot of fun. So, my other band mates are probably at home watching the football right now.
Are you local then, or are you travelling to come here?
Yeah, I’m just north of London. So yeah, about a three hour drive up. But, it’s worth it you know. It’s good to just be here. After the time we’ve had it’s just great to be out in a field with lots of music fans, hanging out, drinking lots of coffee and watching some great bands. Most rock ‘n’ roll you can be! Drinking a Frappuccino whilst you’re watching rock ‘n’ roll.
If you could collaborate with one artist, whether is a massive one, or someone more locally based. Have you got one in mind?
Who would I collaborate with? Well there’s tons of people. I think it would be quite interesting to collaborate with a female singer. There’s a few people that are joining me on the tour like Loz Campbell and Verity White. It’d be cool to do some song writing with somebody in a different way. It’s very kind of… my music is very kind of grunty male rock. It would be quite cool to have a different approach to that. Somebody like Loz Campbell who’s a brilliant guitar player as well, better guitar player than I’ll ever be! So, that’d be quite cool to work with somebody like that. She could maybe teach me how to play guitar better!
Well, I’ll expect to see that on the next tour then.
Yeah, we’ll see!
If you could cover one song, or even written a song, any preference? Like a big epic song, or more of a down to earth rocky kind of thing?
Yeah, we’re covering on the tour that’s coming up, War Pigs. Which we started to do prior to Covid on the last tour. We got five days in and then we got pulled. So we were gonna do that again. But yeah, there’s loads of stuff that I wish I’d written! There’s tons of Black Sabbath riffs that I wish I’d come up with. And Led Zeppelin as well, maybe my all time favourite song is 10 Years Gone by Led Zeppelin. And I absolutely adore that, Physical Graffiti is my favourite record. It’d be amazing to have that ability to write a song as good as that, which has multiple influences, but it draws it all together into a quite complex composition. It takes you on a journey. I always think songs need to take you on a journey and not just be like, you know, slapping you around the face for the first ten seconds, ‘cus then it gets boring. Led Zeppelin were great at doing that. So with my new album, which is coming out this time next year, I’ve tried to do that with my song writing. Which is twists things in a different direction, make sure that not just repeat my previous records. It takes the listener on a new journey. It’s a bit like, I mentioned horror movies, and movie soundtracks, that’s kind of informed it. Its about when you watch a movie and there’s a narrative that takes you on a journey from beginning to end, trying to do that with our record. It started off actually in the song writing process almost being a bit of a concept album, based around Stephen King’s Dark Tower books. And I got about two songs in and then though, fuck this is too difficult. So, you know, I just wrote about ex girlfriends who were dick heads. So there’s two quite complex clever songs, and then the rest are like, she left me! Actually, I was the one being a dick head, so you know. I don’t wanna incriminate myself.
What’s the title of the album?
The albums called The Hammer Falls. Which is a rip on of kind of hammer horror, amicus movie sort of stuff. And the art works been done by a chap called Anastasio, who runs a company over in Spain called Revelation Studios. He’s done artwork for mainly doom metal bands, but he does artwork for Blasko from Ozzy Osbourne’s Band. So, that’s how I kind of discovered him, through seeing his artwork for Blasko. Yeah, and all of the artwork looks very hammer horror movie posteresque, its really cool. Very different to my previous stuff which is all hippy, happy, Black Crows, rock ‘n’ roll. Next ones like, nah, its fucking happy anymore. It’s all gone to shit.
His girlfriends left him!
Yeah, its only got two good songs.
What’s the ultimate goal for you?
Do you know what? I think I, when I set out making music, I never had dreams of being famous or being big or anything, or whatever…making it means. I’ve always just loved making music, and so for me, making it was when I was fourteen and I started a band and I was writing songs with people. Anything from that point on has been a bonus. I talk to a lot of musicians who they obsess about getting record deals and getting in the top forty. I don’t give a shit about that, its like, I just want to make some good rock ‘n’ roll and get on stage and play it. I’ve had top forty albums. Once you’ve done it, it means fuck all. Like, the next week, no one cares. So, at this point in time I just wanna make some good music, hang out with some friends and play live. Which you haven’t been able to do for such a long time. It all feels like a success now.
That’s a really nice, genuine answer. A lot of people would want to stand against their heads a little bit. They have a certain place they wanna play or huge milestone they wanna hit.
Its hilarious, ‘cus everyone’s like, well we need to get in the top forty. I’ve had two top forty albums, nothing happens. It’s just like, oh great I’ve got like a framed vinyl on wall. No one cares. Are the songs any better ‘cus they got in the top forty? No, just had a clever marketing campaign. I think my new album is the best thing I’ve done. It’ll never get in the top forty though! Too busy touring.
Have you had the chance to gig at all since we’ve come back?
Yeah, we’ve done quite a few festivals over the summer. We did our first indoor show, which was a warm up show last week. And then we’re back out, as I’ve said on tour next month. So yeah, the first show was weird, ‘cus we were running on adrenaline. We played like the first three songs at triple speed. I got about two songs in and I was like, we need to fucking calm down. And afterwards, my drummer Felipe was like, (he’s Brazilian) ‘I thought I was gonna have a heart attack on the third track’. I was like, all the songs on the new album are really fast and I was like, why did we make everything sound like Master of Puppets?
Not a clue….when they’re writing it, and then when they perform it, they’re like what have I done!
Yeah, considering when you’re in the studio you’ve got a week to record a song. You can do multiple days. Where as when you’re live and you’ve got a song that is like 166bmp or something, everyone’s looking around sweat dripping over the gear because they’ve been pushing themselves too hard. So, it took us about three gigs to get gig fit. You know, too much Netflix and watching Cobra Kai last year. And eating pie. And then we’re getting in shape again now for the tour.
I think we all need to after the year we’ve had!
Yeah. I mean, it was an interesting year from a creative perspective, ‘cus it forced me to do different things. I’m just glad to be back out. Live is where I’ve always existed, and no being able to do that, as much as I enjoy the studio, I wanna be outside and see faces and socialising. Pretending I’m almost famous!
We hope you enjoyed the interview and would urge any of you to check Jack out if he’s playing near you on the tour! To keep up to date on all of our interviews as well as other content, follow our Instagram here!
